


Avenging Angel

by phoenixreal



Series: Divine Intervention [2]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angels, Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Spoilers, Gen, Post-Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Time Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-12
Updated: 2019-10-12
Packaged: 2020-12-09 13:09:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,939
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20995334
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/phoenixreal/pseuds/phoenixreal
Summary: There are consequences to the actions of the Avengers.





	Avenging Angel

**Author's Note:**

> Gwerinos and I come together to create this continuation of the alternative ending of Endgame.

Tony and Pepper entered the Avenger’s headquarters in their suits. “Sorry, we’re late,” Pepper said. “It’s not easy getting a sitter on short notice.”

“Okay, well, we are here now. What’s the emergency?” Tony asked.

The rest of the Avengers just stared at him for a moment.

“You called the meeting,” Rogers said.

“No, I didn’t,” Tony replied.

“I did,” came a voice from the corner. A man stepped out of the shadows.

Steve and Tony exchanged a look and Tony spoke up. “Who are you?” he asked, wondering just how this guy had managed to call the Avengers to a meeting like this.

Peter was staring at the corner from where the man had emerged. “Wow! That’s cool. How do you do that?”

“Not now, kid,” Tony said.

“But he was hiding in the shadows in the corner.” He pointed to the corner. “But there aren’t any shadows in that corner.”

Tony nodded, realizing the same thing. “I see that,” he said. “Still doesn’t explain who you are and what you’re doing here,” Tony said as he stared at the strange man.

“My name is Michael Angel. I am here to join you.”

Steve looked over at Tony again. “Michael Angel?” he repeated. “Do you have some sort of powers?” he asked.

Michael held up one finger. “Pain,” he said. Everyone in the room was suddenly in excruciating pain. “Stop,” he said and it stopped.

“That’s unique,” Tony said, catching his breath. He looked at the others. “What makes you want to join us?” he asked.

“It is Father’s will.”

“Father’s will?” Steve asked, frowning. “Your father wants you to do this? Who is your father?” He knew what he was thinking, but he needed to hear the words out loud to know if it was true or not.

Michael pointed up.

“Are you really an angel?” Peter asked.

“Are you really a spider?” Michael asked.

Peter frowned but didn’t answer him. He just looked over to Tony. Tony wasn’t sure what to make of the whole situation.

“Okay, so you’re wanting to join the Avengers, because the sky daddy wants you to. You have some unusual powers and we should agree because…?” Tony said.

“Your numbers have been reduced. You are expanding around the globe. Doubling the world’s population in an instant has toppled the economy of many countries.You need to recruit more people.” 

Steve had to admit that was right. He looked to Tony. “I believe him,” he said. “I say we give him a chance.”

“A chance?” Clint intoned. “We don’t know that much about him. He could be Hydra for all we know.”

“Hydra is the least of your problems at the moment. The enemies of Asgard know that you have taken in the refugees. The population of this world is dividing into those who died 5 years ago and those who survived. Reducing the population by half benefitted many. You have taken away that benefit. You are on the brink of a third world war. It only remains to be seen who will strike first.”

Tony had to admit he was right, on all counts. Things had not been easy with the return of everyone who had disappeared for five years. Many communities had been irrevocably changed in those five years, and then to have people suddenly materialize once again… It had been chaotic and continued to be so.

“So, we’re to take you at your word that you’re a good guy?” Tony asked, still a bit suspicious.

“Are you in pain? Are you dead? Are you hanging upside down over a vat of boiling oil? Are you abandoned in the desolate snow freezing to death? No. I can do all these things in an instant. But you are here in the relative safety of you meeting place,” Michael replied.

“So, you’re like all powerful?” Peter asked. “Why do you need us, then?”

“I am not of this world. I have no right. I can only act as directed,” Michael replied.

There was a heavy silence as everyone seemed to think over what he’d said. “You just want to be a part of the team,” Tony said and looked over at Steve. Steve had already professed to believing him, so that was of little surprise to Tony.

“What I want is irrelevant. Think of me as a gift from my father. I am a weapon for you to use.”

“This is a little weird,” Clint commented. “The idea of a sentient being being used as a weapon and nothing more.”

“But we can use the help,” Pepper pointed out.

Tony grudgingly acknowledged that. “Alright. Let’s vote on it. Anyone against letting Michael here join us? Speak up now or never.”

“And if he is here to discover who we all are? Or something like that?” Peter asked always the most outspoken of the team.

“I already know who you are Peter Parker SpidyBoy.”

“Spiderman,” Peter replied.

“Perhaps in two or three years,” Michael replied.

There were sniggers from a couple of the others of the team.

“I am warrior, a General, Leader of my father’s army. I have few needs.”

Tony smiled at the comment and then looked around at the others. “Anyone else have any input?” he asked.

“If you are the Leader of your father’s army why are you here?” Bruce asked.

“Because he wills it so,” Michael replied.

“And what if he wills us all dead?” Clint asked.

“Then you would be dead,” Michael told him.

Everyone looked a little uncomfortable at that statement, but that was understandable. The idea that anyone could easily extinguish life in this manner was indeed frightening. But whether they believed that or not was another story.

Steve looked around. “Why would it be so hard to believe that there is an all powerful being capable of molding life? Thor is a god, and before he appeared, no one believed he existed. The same can be said for this entity that calls himself God.”

Michael smiled. “He does not call himself God. You do.”

Tony looked at Michael. “Good, because I still don’t believe in God,” he said. “I do believe there are beings like Thor, Odin, and Loki that are alien to us and have powers beyond our understanding, though.”

“Then we have an understanding.”

“Umm...Mr Angel...if you like have to do your father’s will, isn’t that like slavery?” Peter asked.

“I am not human. I was not born with free will. My instincts tell me to do as my father wills. It’s not slavery as you know it, though I can see that you might think that.”

“Well, as long as you agree to it, I guess,” Tony muttered. “Alright, so he wants to join us. Other than him being sent here by this God entity, we’ve seen that he has powers that could aid us in our current situation. We can’t deny we need all hands on deck for this new world where half the population just returned to it.”

“Just one more thing you might want to know. I am not signing the accord,” Michael said.

“At this point, I don’t think it matters,” Tony sighed. He hadn’t heard much about the accords since Thanos. The push to get them to sign them had stopped when the world needed them to be heroes.

“Vote?” Steve asked.

“Well, technically, it’s up to you. But I feel in this case you might be a bit bias,” Tony replied.

“Because of these?” Michael asked as his wings suddenly appeared.

“Way cool!” Peter exclaimed.

“Yeah, because of that, Mr. Angel,” Tony said with a glance over at him before looking at Steve. “You’re the captain, Cap. We follow you,” he said.

“Look, whether or not he is a real angel or not or an alien, he has some useful abilities and is offering to help. But let’s vote,” Steve replied.

“I say let him help out,” Tony said with a shrug.

“I agree,” Pepper said with a nod of her head.

Peter nodded his head. “Let’s give Mr. Angel a shot!”

*I will help protect the child,* Michael’s voice could only be heard by Tony.

“There are many in need of help. Where do we start?” Michael asked.

Tony glanced over to Bruce, wondering what he was thinking. Clint hadn’t spoken up either other than his previous misgivings.

“We haven’t finished voting,” Bruce said.

“I am aware of the misgivings and shall try to prove myself useful and loyal. I only jump ahead because the Asgardian township is being attacked by those who are against the influx of refugees,” Michael informed them.

Steve and Tony exchanged a glance as an alarm went off. “Sir,” Friday said. “We have a report coming in from the Asgardian camp.”

The Avengers were suddenly standing on the hill overlooking the town. 

“Another of your abilities?” Tony asked. Michael nodded. “Well, warn us next time.”

The view was good from the point they were at and they could see and hear a crowd working on getting through the gates to the Asgardian’s home.

“Well, they’re just humans,” Peter said. “We can’t just go into it like we do when they’re enemies.”

“The consequences of non interference are grave. Many will die and the Asgardians will be rejected from their new homes,” Michael told them.

Steve nodded. “We have to do things carefully, to minimize the loss of life. Perhaps reasoning with them will work?”

“It has gone beyond reason. But the majority of those attacking are Christians. The presence of an angel might deter them. If it is your wish, Captain.”

Steve looked at the others and then back to Michael. “We have to use what we have available to us. Make an appearance and get their attention, Michael.”

Michael stepped forward and fully expanded his wings. They were much bigger than anyone expected, perhaps 15 ft from tip to tip. One flap was all he needed to get off the ground and he soared above them low enough to get everyone’s attention. He didn’t land but hovered in front of the crowd. “Go home, leave these people in peace.”

“Their aliens, they are taking our land,” one man stood fast as many retreated in awe and fear.

“They have no where to go. Their home has been destroyed.”

“There are twice as many now,” another yelled.

“And that is as many as there are. Like all of you they must struggle through this hard time.” Michael looked over to Steve, unsure what to say to appease them.

Steve looked around and stood beside Michael. “Listen, what happened to the openness of the Noweigian people? The Asgardians are self-sufficient and ask nothing of you. Their presence does not cause you any direct problems. If they are the cause of problems, you have ways to air your grievances without resorting to violence.”

“I’m airing our grievances. Get out of our country!”

“I did not want to do this,” Michael said to Steve, then to the crowd. “They are under my protection.”

“And what are you? Another alien come to take our land?”

“No, I am the Archangel Michael.”

There was a little bit of silence as the group that was left thought about that statement. Steve wondered if they, like the Avengers themselves had been, be skeptical of Michael’s words.

“Michael is a part of the Avengers and will stand against any violence as will we all,” Steve said and looked around.

A huge part of the crowd turned away, getting in their cars or seeking lifts back to their homes or the local pub.

Steve was glad to see them go, but there were some left behind. “Now, what more do you want to say?” he asked.

“You can’t be here 24/7.”

“What would you have them do?” Steve asked, looking around. “Would you have them defend themselves against you? They may be small in number compared to the humans but they are a powerful people. Attacking them would end in death for not only them, but you as well. The possibility of fighting to preserve what, a piece of land? They are taking no more space than they were before the people were returned. Even at double their population, they are small in number compared to you.”

About a half dozen men suddenly arrived and they were well armed. They made their way to the front of those who were left of the crowd and surprised everyone but turning and lining up facing the crowd.

“We are from the Temple of Odin and we will fight you. We have no fear of death for Valhalla awaits us.”

Michael turned to Thor with a lifted eyebrow. “Interesting religion you have there.”

Thor shrugged. “We don’t want violence, but will answer it when it faces us,” he said.

“Alright, alright, let’s step back, then,” Steve said with a sigh.

Without the backing of the crowd the small group became nervous and their bravery was seeping away.

“There is no dishonour in retreating from a superior force,” the man from the Temple of Odin told them. “This is not your day to die.”

“This is a no one wins situation if you press matters,” Steve told them. “We’re here to prevent violence and that is our main objective. The Asgardians are bringing you no harm, and they provide for themselves. They have been here for the last five years, the only difference is now their population is double what it used to be. Please, think through these actions.”

“We’ll be back when you aren’t here,” one man said and they all left.

The men from the Temple of Odin turned to Thor and knelt.

Thor looked at them then motioned for them to stand. “Do not kneel, not before me,” he said, glancing around.

They stood. “As you wish, your Majesty. Call us whenever your settlement is threatened.” he stood and handed Thor his business card. 

Thor took the card and nodded. “Thank you for your assistance,” he said. He watched them leave and turned to Steve. “This is not over. Those Midgardians will be back at some point. Right now they are disorganized and angry. They will become dangerous if they ever organize and move as one. They aren’t really a danger to me but we don’t want to kill any humans,” Thor replied.

“Pity, I was hoping for a good fight,” Michael muttered.

“Um...Not meaning to interrupt but this is a school night and it’s getting late,” Peter told them.

Michael looked to Tony. “What sort of teenager actually wants to go to school?”

Tony snorted. “This one,” he said with a sigh. “We should get him back.”

Bruce tapped Steve on the shoulder and pointed up. Two winged men had suddenly appeared above them. They landed beside Michael.

“Stay and protect this township,” Michael told them.

“Since when do we protect the followers of false Gods?” one of them asked.

Michael struck him. “Since I say so.”

The man cowered. “Yes, my lord.”

Steve and Tony exchanged a look. “That should deter most people, with knowledge of the Temple of Odin being around,” Tony said with a nod. “They’re just all talk more than anything.”

“Do not disrespect my religion,” Thor growled.

“Yeah, let’s get back,” Steve said, avoiding the religion argument.

Michael gave some strange instructions to his men and then turned back to Tony. “This is your warning. I am about to take you back to the Avenger’s headquarters.” The moment he said headquarters they were back there.

“That’s gonna take some getting used to,” Tony said as he looked around. “Gotta admit that there’s no better way to travel that fast.”

“How do you do that?” Bruce asked.

“I bend space.”

“Alright vague muchly,” Peter replied. “I want to know how you hide your wings.”

“I increased the speed at which the atoms of my wings move and then phase them between the atoms of anything that is within the same space as them.”

Peter frowned.

“It’s magic.”

“That’s the easy answer,” Tony said with a smile. “Now, you have school tomorrow, kid. So, scat.”

Peter left them. He’d been staying in the building since he came back because his aunt had moved on with her life and her new boyfriend wasn’t going to take to having Spiderman living with them. Tony had sort of taken him under his wing but he had Pepper and their daughter. Peter didn’t really mind living there alone There was always someone around and he got to put the call out whenever there was a need for the Avengers.

“Why are you really here?” Steve asked Michael quietly.

“Because your unique healing abilities mean that you might remember something that the others will not,” Michael said within Steve’s mind.

Steve frowned and wondered what exactly that meant. He couldn’t remember anything related to Michael. Or could he? He shook his head. No, definitely not.

“So, what do we do to pass the time until the Avengers are needed?” Michael asked the group.

“Sleep,” Bruce said. “I’ve got lectures tomorrow.”

“And we’ve got to go back home to Morgan,” Tony said. “You can feel free to stay here and we’ll keep in contact with you,” he said to Michael. “Do you have to rest or what?”

“I do not sleep. But I do...participate in recreational activities,” Michael replied.

“Recreational activities?” Steve asked, looking at him. “Like what?”

“You would not approve,” Michael replied.

“Oh?” Bucky asked. “Sex drugs and rok’n’roll?”

Michael smiled.

“Not in front of the kid,” Tony said.

“I will watch over the child,” Michael replied.

“Okay, that sounds like a good idea,” Tony remarked. “We must get back to our child now.”

It was just going on three in the afternoon when Tony pulled up in front of the Avengers Headquarters. He was expecting the builder to give his report on costs etc for the rebuilding of the building. 

“Do you hear that?” Tony asked

“You mean Queen’s Greatest Hits being played at maximum volume? Yes, I hear that,” Pepper replied.

Tony got out of the car and went inside. It was near earsplitting when the door opened. Pepper was delayed with getting Morgan from her car seat.

Tony traced the noise by volume expecting it to be coming from Peter’s room. Instead he found Michael, totally naked, singing along with the CD. Morgan ran up to him. Tony quickly bent and put his hand over her eyes.

“So I guess Bucky wasn’t far off,” he said. “FRIDAY, lower the volume,” he said loudly over the music.

Pepper arrived at the door and quickly turned around. “Oh!” she exclaimed.

With the music lowered, Michael realised that he wasn’t alone and his black leather trousers along with a black leather belt and plain silver buckle suddenly appear on him. He bent and picked up Morgan.

“That’s a handy ability,” Tony muttered. “I take it Peter hasn’t gotten back from school yet.”

“Someone say my name?” Peter asked. “I didn’t want to come inside after what happened last night.” Peter looked exhausted.

“What happened last night?” Pepper asked, looking over at Michael.

“Michael had some friends over and played Supernatural episodes loudly, very loudly.”

“You should have told me it was disturbing you,” Michael told him.

“I came down to tell you to turn the volume down but you were...um...otherwise occupied.”

“Who knew angels would have such a wild side,” Tony said, looking somewhere between annoyed and impressed.

“We are warriors of the Lord. Humans invented the idea of ‘angelic’.”

“Are you a fairy?” Morgan asked.

“No, little one. I’m an angel.”

“You’re sparkly.”

“Sparkly?” Pepper asked.

“Morgan is an innocent. She has no concept of what a man looks like and she can see through the illusion. Of course she cannot see my true self. That would be harmful.”

“Fascinating,” Tony said as he looked at him. “So, maybe in the future, little less volume while Peter’s trying to sleep,” he said. “Who did you bring here, anyway?” Tony was curious more than anything as to who angels partied with.

“Some of my brothers. I would not risk the secrecy of your true identities by bringing humans here. Though that hardly applies to you.”

“That’s good, I guess,” Tony said. “Let’s just keep it down, eh?” he said with a sigh. “Nothing important happening?” he asked.

“As if we could hear Friday over the music,” Peter crumbled. “I’m going to bed. Mr Stark, would you add a program to Friday to stop noises loud enough to blow out my eardrums?”

“The sound proofing has been damaged by near total destruction of the building. Luke, a friend of mine has informed me that once the rubble is removed, the rest of the building will fall down,” Michael told Tony.

“Well, it seems that if that is the case, rebuilding the place from the ground up might be the only solution for it,” Tony said with a sigh.

“Peter will have to come live with us,” Pepper said. “And he can stop calling you Mr Stark, and start calling you Dad.”

Tony looked at her and then Peter to see what he had to say about that. “Yes, well, that should be easy to do.”

Peter jumped in the air, screaming, “YES! Thanks Dad.”

“I’ll get Happy to drive you to school so you won’t have to move schools,” Tony told him.

Peter turned to leave to get some much needed sleep but turned back to go to Morgan. “Hi, I’m your new big brother. My name’s Peter.”

“I know you already!” Morgan announced. “But you can be my brother, too!”

Tony sighed, thinking he might regret this one of these days, but he had to hand it to the kid, he had his priorities straight.

“I’ve got to go take a nap but we can play after dinner,” Peter told her.

“Can I come take a nap with you?”

“No,” Pepper said.

“But mommy…”

“You talk and play all through your naps. Peter needs his sleep.”

“Yeah, maybe another time when I don’t need sleep so much, okay?” Peter said, giving her a grin.

Tony smiled a little as he watched Peter take off to go get some sleep. “Alright, now, to figure out what to do about the compound.”

“The builder has just arrived,” Michael said now able to hear above the music. “Friday please turn the music off.” He handed Morgan back to Pepper and paused as they touched flesh to flesh for a brief moment. “Congratulations, Mrs Stark.”

“Congratulations?” Pepper said, eyes going a bit wide.

“On your pregnancy,” Michael replied.

Pepper blinked and looked at Tony. Tony arched a brow. “Don’t look at me, I didn’t know yet either!” Tony said.

“Eh hem, thank you,” she said, still getting over the shock of the revelation.

“Boy or girl?” Tony asked.

“You should have paid more attention in Biology,” Michael told him. “It is too early to tell.”

Tony snorted and sighed. “Had to try,” he said with a shrug.

Michael accompanied Tony and Pepper outside to meet with the builder who was standing there with mouth agape. “It doesn’t look this bad in the photos. Have you considered building underground?”

“SHIELD tried that once. Loki arrived and now it is a rather large hole in the ground,” Tony replied. “I’d prefer not to bury the Avengers.”

“What can be done with it?” Pepper asked, adjusting Morgan.

“I suggest we finish what Thanos started and wipe it off the face of the planet,” the builder said.

Tony sighed. “Seems to be the only way. Destroy it and start again. I guess I can take the opportunity to upgrade some tech on the new building.”

“Might I suggest that you build new on another site while this one is being demolished and the surviving tech retrieved?” Michael suggested.

Tony nodded. “That would be the most expedient way of doing things. It isn’t like I have a lack of properties to get my hands on to do so,” he said with a sigh. “I’ll have FRIDAY go through the areas that we can look at to build a new compound.”

“If you’re in a hurry, an existing building could be renovated,” the builder said. 

“We could go back to Stark Tower,” Pepper suggested.

“I thought we agreed that it was no place to raise Morgan?” Tony frowned.

“I didn’t say we had to live there,” Pepper replied.

Tony supposed that was true. It would be a building easy to retrofit for the Avengers to use. He could certainly handle the upgrades necessary to make things up to standards.

Morgan was reaching out from Pepper’s arms to Michael. At least now he was fully dressed, or at least appeared to be.

Pepper put Morgan down and let her run over to Michael again. She kept an eye on her, though, still not completely sure what to make of Michael yet.

Michael picked her up and she began stoking his invisible wings.

Tony glanced over, watching Morgan for a second and assumed that she could see what they could not. He looked at the builder.

“Do what you have to do with this place,” he said. “I’ll see about moving everyone to the Tower for the time being until we decide if we’re rebuilding here or somewhere else.”

“Yes I would like to talk to you about the financial situation of several of the avengers,” Michael told Tony. “Also, would you like me to remove all but the salvageable tech from the rubble?”

Frank, the builder, looked at him with a frown. He had been working with Stark for quite a while. He knew the insides of Stark Tower probably better than Tony himself. And here was this newcomer wanting to take several months work off him.

Tony thought about it. He saw the look on Frank’s face, and knew exactly what the man was thinking because he had a similar thought. Taking Michael’s powers into account would certainly save money on the clearing of the building, but he also didn’t want to turn away one of his best workers in the process. He had worked with Frank for a long while now.

“I think we can let Frank handle this building,” Tony said finally.

Michael nodded. Morgan whispered something in his ear. “Oh, you better go with your mommy then.”

“I can do it by myself.”

“You can? Aren’t you a big girl!” Michael put her down and Morgan ran inside. “Little humans are so cute.”

Pepper watched her go. She wondered for a moment but guessed she had to use the bathroom or something.

“So, Frank,” Tony said. “I’ll leave you to deal with this. I’ll talk to the Avengers today and decide where we’ll set up a temporary base.”

“I’ll send in the tech crew first,” Frank told him. “I can start tomorrow.”

“Good,” Tony said with a nod. “Let’s go in and see where Morgan took off to,” he said and looked at Pepper and Michael. “And discuss financial situations, as you said.”

They left Frank to poke around to plan what to get his crews working on first. “It has come to my notice that several of the Avengers are in dire straights financially. Scott Lang, Ant Man, is living on a friend’s couch and has lost access to his daughter because the bank foreclosed on his mortgage while he was away. Dr Strange and his associate do not even have the money for food.”

Tony sighed. They of course hadn’t said anything to him. “I’m not sure that either of them would accept help from me,” he muttered to himself.

“An invitation to dinner might help start the process. And should a parcel of food regularly arrive on the doorstep of the Sanctuary in New York, anonymously, it wouldn’t be refused. Scott might ‘win’ a car to help him find work,” Michael said. “There are ways to help should you feel so inclined.”

Tony nodded. “I’ll see what I can arrange,” Tony said, knowing that Michael was right. He would have to be sneaky about it though because they would not want to accept assistance.

“The Captain and his friend are living off his army pension,” Michael also informed him. “They might consider living in Stark Tower if it was rent free. In fact offering on open house to allow any of the Avengers to live there and if a communal kitchen with available food…it would not be too much of a drain on your finances.” 

Tony nodded. “That could be arranged. I certainly have the room for them at the Tower,” he said as he thought it over. “It would be easier to have everyone close at hand in case we’re needed.”

It was a couple of hours later that Peter stuck his head outside his bedroom. He found Tony still there. “Mr Stark...um...Dad...can we talk about something?”

Tony frowned but nodded. “Sure, kid, what is it?”

“Privately,” Peter replied.

“Okay,” Tony said and let Peter lead him to the bedroom. “Okay, what’s up?” he asked.

“About last night…”

Tony arched a brow. “About last night, what?”

“When I went out to ask Michael to keep it down a bit,” Peter hesitated.

“Doesn’t your school have sex ed?” Tony asked.

“No, I mean, yes...It’s called Health and Safety. But no, that isn’t what I want to talk to you about.”

“Okay, out with it, kid,” he said, sighing.

“I’m not sure if it is really that important but I kep thinking about it.”

“About the noise, or what he was occupied with?” Tony asked, a little confused by what Peter was getting at.

“I heard them talking, well, shouting over the noise. But they could have been talking about just about anything, you know.” Peter took a deep breath. “His friend warned Michael that ‘they’ must never know. And I got the impression that he was talking about us. And just so you know...Health and Safety doesn’t cover...um...gay.”

Tony shook his head. “Well, we’ll just have to keep an eye on them and see what comes up. There’s more to this than we’ve seen, I know that, but it has to be important. Keep your ears open, and see what you can hear,” Tony told him.

“Do you think he really is an angel?” Peter asked.

“I think he’s like Thor. An alien with extraordinary abilities. There is no such thing as God and Angels. People just think that because it is easier to think that your friends and family will be waiting for you when you die rather than just be dead.”

Peter nodded. “Is there any food left? I’m hungry.”

Tony snorted. “Yeah, kid, there’s always food around here, though we’re going to move places to the Tower while this place gets demolished.”

“Do I have to stay here tonight?” Peter asked.

“No, you can stay with Pepper and Morgan and me,” Tony told him with a grin. “Maybe then, you can get some sleep and don’t have to worry about Michael’s activities during the night.”

“Just so I have warning...you and Pepper don’t...you know...in the living room?”

Tony shook his head. “We have a kid, Kid,” he said. “No danger in our house.”

“OK, I’ll pack after we eat. I have a pretty hard weekend ahead of me. Vision used to help me with my English essays but…”

“Yeah, well, maybe we can arrange something with FRIDAY to help you with something,” Tony commented, leading him into the kitchen, or what was left of it.

Tony opened the freezer only to find everything melted. “It rained and the roof leaked,” Peter explained. “Michael got the lights working and the generator ran the some of the equipment.”

“Well, why don’t we get some take out and take it home,” Tony said as he looked around. “It would be easier than finding anything left here that’s worth eating.”

“Don’t open the fridge. It took me an hour to get rid of the smell after Peter opened it this morning,” Michael said from the doorway.

“Yeah, we won’t do that. Do you even eat?” Tony asked.

“I can but I don’t have to. I can convert the energy of sunlight.”

“You eat sunlight?” Morgan asked as she appeared from behind Michael. “What if you get hungry at night?”

Michael crouched down to her level. “Moonlight is the sun’s light reflected off the moon. So I can eat moonlight as well.”

“That’s interesting,” Tony commented. “Alright, let’s go get Peter and Morgan fed. They both need their sleep tonight. I guess you can stay here again tonight, Michael, and tomorrow we’ll get everything set up in the tower.”

“Then you do not require my presence here tonight?” Michael asked.

“I think we can handle things tonight. You do whatever you want to do and meet us at the tower in the morning. I’ll assume that you know where it is?” Tony said.

“Yes, I know where it is,” Michael replied. With that he suddenly vanished.

“Daddy, I don’t think he is a real fairy,” Morgan said and then held her arms up to Peter who picked her up.

“You don’t?” Tony asked. “What do you think he is, then?”

“I think he’s an alien. Or a human that had an accident like Peter.”

Tony smiled. That was his girl, always thinking. “I think you’re right,” he said and winked at her.

She winked back.

“Come on, then, to the house so we can have something to eat. I think Morgan is probably getting hungry by now, too. What do you want to eat, Morgan?” he asked as they headed out of the remains of the kitchen.

“Shouldn’t we do something about the fridge and freezer?” Peter asked.

“Not really much we can do tonight,” Tony said. “I’ll have the builders do something about it tomorrow.”

Prof Banner was sitting on the steps of the Stark’s house waiting for them when they got there. “The sitter freaked out and wouldn’t let me in,” he told Tony when he got out of the car.

“Well, we hadn’t mentioned anyone big and green coming over,” Tony said as he led both Pepper and Peter into the house. He gestured for Bruce to follow them.

“Hi, Spidey.” Bruce clapped Peter on the back nearly knocking him over.

As they came in, Tony saw the flustered babysitter. “It’s okay, it’s just Bruce,” he said to her and grinned to try and ease her mind.

The wide eyes sitter stared at Bruce. “I...I can’t sit for you...Friday night...I’ll...um...send you a bill…” With that she ran out the back door since Bruce was between her and the front door.

“Well, there goes that one,” Tony sighed. “What did you need, anyway, Bruce?” he asked, turning to him.

“Well, here’s the thing...I don’t know. I mean...everyone else seems to be busy with family or trying to calm things down. You probably have noticed that my presence doesn’t calm things down so I am just, you know, getting on with life. But the weird thing is that...things have changed. It’s like some weird shi...stuff.”

“What kind of weird stuff?” Tony asked, looking at him.

“It’s like that Mandela Effect stuff. Something is just not quite right. I thought that maybe we messed up something. There are students in my class who I know have been attending all semester but I have know idea who they are. Because of well, big green and angry, students have to sign in every lecture, so I have proof that they have been to every lecture but I don’t know, maybe I’m just getting forgetful.”

Tony frowned. “We put the stones all back where they went, and no one interferred in events in any timeline, right?” he asked.

“Except Steve took the stones back, not me. I was the one who promised to return all the stones so that nothing gets changed.”

“The who shouldn’t matter so much as the what,” Tony said, shaking his head. “Why would that matter?”

“But think about it Tony. We changed everything. Half the population of the universe is missing 5 years, half the population that shouldn’t even be here.”

“Time stopped for that half of the population while it moved forward for the rest of us,” Tony said, thinking about it. “But how would that change who already showed up for the classes? I can’t see how that would affect the students on your roster.”

“I checked. Everyone of them were on the missing register. How can they have attended my lectures when they weren’t here? You got to talk to Steve. Maybe he did something.”

“That makes no sense. No one that left for five years aged five years. Peter’s still the same age he was when he disappeared. You don’t remember the last five years, do you?” he said as he turned to Peter.

“Well, yeah, but apparently that was five to ten years ago. I’ve got 5 years of comics to catch up on and half my friends have finished university already,” Peter said.

“See Mandela Effects. Glitch in the Matrix stuff,” Bruce said.

“Well, I’d be surprised if there weren’t some strange things going on,” Tony mused. “There has to be some logical explanation for it. We can talk to Steve tomorrow. I’m inviting him to come live at the Tower while we use it as a base after the compound got destroyed.”

“You think maybe Vision and Wanda will come back from Scotland?”

“What are you talking about? Vision has been gone for…”

“Five years?” Bruce asked. “I thought so too, but I talked to him on the phone last night.”

Tony sat down on the sofa and thought about it. “What happened?” he asked.

“According to him, the stone was removed successfully but Thanos still got it. He and Wanda have been living in Scotland for the past 5 years. I didn’t want to hit you with this straight up because I wasn’t sure how you remember things.”

“So, Vision is still alive, even though I remember him dying when the stone was removed. What else has changed?” he asked, looking up at Bruce.

“I don’t know. What has changed seems to be different for everyone.”

“Okay, so we know something is going on. The question is, what do we do about it?” Tony wondered.

“Maybe we ask Michael?” Peter suggested. “Captain Rogers seemed pretty accepting of him. Maybe they’d already met or something.”

“He seems to know things we don’t,” Tony admitted. “We’re all meeting in the morning at the tower, so we can decide what to do then. For now, it’s getting late already,”

“Good luck getting Clint and Nat in the same room. Things are pretty awkward since Clint’s family came back.”

“Didn’t Black Widow jump off a cliff so we could have one of the stones?” Peter asked.

“That’s what I remember,” Tony said softy. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad to hear she and Vision are still here, but how can she be alive if we succeeded in getting the stone?”

“I don’t know. I just remember them getting the stone and both coming back from the past. They’ve been together now for 5 years. But with his wife and kids coming back, no one seems to know what to do.”

“Hmm,” Tony said. “Yeah, I can imagine that would be weird. But how could this be possible?”

“Tony, I’m big, green, angry and a lecturer at the university. How could that be possible?”

Tony sighed, running a hand through his hair. “Okay, so we know that you brought back the half of the universe that Thanos had made disappear. Then I used the stones to get rid of the army that was attacking us and Thanos. Then Steve took all the stones back in time where they belonged. We remember that the same, right?” he asked.

“Wait, what?” Peter said. “Prof Banner brought us back. But Captain Rogers said you did, Dad.”

“Dad?” Bruce asked.

“Yeah, it’s a new thing,” Tony said, waving it off. “Steve said I did? Did I?” he asked, suddenly doubting everything he remembered.

“OK, I’m going home to bed. This is too much even for me,” Bruce said. Bruce walked outside and hit a button on his wristband. An Iron man suit shaped itself around him and he flew off.

“That was cool,” Peter said. “How did you get him a new suit so quickly, after Thanos destroyed the last one?”

Tony blinked, glancing at Peter and not knowing how to answer that. He didn’t remember doing it. But obviously, he had done so, otherwise he wouldn’t have one. “Peter, let’s get some sleep.”

“I promised to read to Morgan.”

“Morgan is asleep,” Pepper said coming back into the living room. “Tony, if Bruce is going to visit, we need a chair that he can sit it. He must get sore feet having to stand all the time.”

“Yeah, that’s true,” Tony said, already thinking about how to invent a chair that would work for him. “Either way, let’s get sleep and tackle some of this tomorrow.”

“I have a feeling that I am not going to get my essay done this weekend,” Peter muttered.

“Yes, you are. Being an Avenger isn’t a career. I expect you to become a very knowledgeable world renowned photographer,” Tony told him.

“Photographer?” Peter asked. “I wouldn’t know which end of a camera to point. I’m going to major in chemistry.”

Tony looked at him and frowned. Another “glitch in the matrix”? He was sure he’d been interested in photography before. They’d certainly have to talk about this the next day but this was getting too much for him.

Pepper remembered how they had gotten Peter to do the portraits of the Avengers for a wall in Stark Tower. Not only did he know who they all were but he was the best photographer they had. His portfolio was fantastic for one so young. “Tony, what’s going on?”

“I wish I knew,” he said. “We meddled with time and that’s all I know. One tiny change could cause ripples of changes in things that were already established. Who knows for sure? Maybe our new friend Michael can shed some light on things. But for tonight we should sleep so we can worry more on it tomorrow.”

Pepper took Morgan to the creche in Stark Tower. There were still plenty of people who weren’t concerned about IronMan attracting an attack on the tower. It had actually been pretty quiet there for the past 5 years.

Tony had already summoned everyone else, at least those that were nearby and able to get to the tower. He had a hard time sleeping the night before with all the theories running through his mind about what was happening, and what it all meant. He came into the main room to see Michael was already there waiting for them.

Wanda and Vision were attending the meeting via satellite link. “Tony, I apologize for not being with you to face Thanos but without the Mind Stone I am vulnerable so I didn’t expect I could do much to help and by the time I got there it was all over. I am unable to fly without the Mind Stone.”

“Understandable,” Tony said. He looked around the room at the others. “So, the reason I called everyone here was for a couple--”

“We fucked up,” Steve said over the top of Tony. “We fucked up big time.”

Tony looked at him, brow arched. “Yeah, you could say that. We’re seeing abnormalities left and right, so we’ve got to decide what it is we’re going to do about it,” he said, looking around and wondering if anyone wanted to put anything in before he went on.

“You tore a hole in the fabric of space and time. This is the apex of all universes and times. You rammed your universe into that of your dead so violently that this is the result. Are you alive or dead? What year is it? Where are you?” Michael said almost casually.

Tony looked at him for a moment, not sure what to say. “Well, we did what we did. There’s no debating what we did because it’s already happened. We have to decide what to do about it.”

“Put together two idiots and travel your way back to sanity,” Michael said.

“You’re not listening, Stark. He said space and TIME. I can travel in time,” Scott told them. 

Tony let out an exasperated sigh. “But what are you going to do? What are you going to change to make it better?” Tony asked.

“You can turn back time,” Wong said to Steven.

“Not for the entire universe or in this case universes,” Steven replied.

“We already discussed this. We can’t change the past,” Tony argued.

“No but you can face the consequences of your interference,” Michael told them.

“Oh God! No. I prayed for Tony to live. We all did,” Rogers said.

“Through the power of your minds. Anything you can imagine can be real,” Michael said. “That is the beauty of your universe. But you must face the consequences because your minds are not powerful enough to foresee every consequence.”

“So, if that’s the case, that’s why we’re remembering some of us dying and they’re not dead anymore in this reality. This has become our reality with all of us living and none of us dying because that’s what we all wanted. But because of that, it’s causing these ‘glitches’ that are happening,” Tony said.

“We have dishonoured the sacrifices made to bring back half the universe,” Clint said.

“We can’t have it both ways,” Steve added.

“Choose,” Michael said.

Tony looked at him. “Choose? What is that choice, after all?” Tony asked. “Between half the universe and a few of us dying?”

Steve dropped to his knee and prayed. Bruce followed. “I’m sorry, Nat.”

Wanda looked at Vision. “It’s alright,” Vision said to the horrified woman at his side.

“No it’s not,” she screamed.

“This doesn’t make sense,” Tony said, feeling a strange sensation. “What is it? What is it that we’re changing?”

“They are ripping apart the universes that they caused to merge when they prayed for you, Vision and Natalie to live. You no longer physically exist within their universe,” Michael told him.

“But...I remember what happened...why do I remember it if I no longer exist?” Tony said, truly confused.

“Because theirs was not the only universe you existed in, and there will always be a universe in which you exist.”

“So, I’m dead,” he looked over at Nat and Vision. “We’re dead.”

Suddenly the Avengers looked up from where they knelt in the rubble of the Avenger’s Headquarters to see a winged man standing high above them on what remained in the ruins. He nodded at Captain Rogers and then flew off, vanishing into a cloud. Steve remembered it all. He wondered if any of the others did. But now was not the time to ask. They were mourning Tony.

Tony had given up everything with the last words “I am Iron Man”. There was no more noble sacrifices than those which the Avengers had made to save the universe they knew and loved. Despite knowing he died, Tony would make the choice again and again because he was Tony Stark. He was Iron Man.


End file.
